the real red, white, and blue

french vogue: june/july 2008
photographer: mario testino
creative director: carine roitfeld
model: noemie lenoir
considering that gay paris was the creative force during the twenties and as a result had one of the most forward thinking approach of any city in the entire world, it would be the place were black americans flocked to to escape the terrible racial experience in the united states. paris became a city that embraced jazz and its human embodiment that was josephine baker. the freedom of movement and the pure, rawnest of the music escaped through the limbs of baker. while america never considered black to be beautiful, in france she became a sex symbol and was called "the black venus", "the black pearl", or simply as "la baker". although racisim in france was by no means absent, it was, and still is one of the most open minded centers in the world. it was on french vogue where naomi campbell snatched her first vogue cover and not so long ago, a whole issue was devoted to ethiopian model liya kebede. and now the magazine is celebrating one of its own daughters. although noemie lenoir isn't the most popular model on the planet, she is without a doubt one of the most striking faces. combine her feline angles, with her own oozing sexuality and the mysterious "je ne sais quoi" that french women have, and her allure is irresistible. i don't want to seem like i don't appreciate this awesome cover, but it would have been so much better is noemie shared the cover with that other bodacious sista chrystelle saint louis agustine. i would have had a heart attack. but a good one.